theodicy

Death Row Letters: Theodicy And Human Evil

Rick TryonLeave a comment

Greetings, death row occupiers.

Augustine believed that human evil stems from human free will and the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, while natural evil, which we discussed in our previous letter, is a consequence of our fallen nature and moral failure.

So, murder, rape, genocide, assault, and war are all examples of Human Evil – people choosing to inflict death and suffering on others.

God doesn’t force anyone to behave morally anymore than he forces anyone to believe on Jesus Christ as savior. We each have unconditional free-will and we all live with the benefits, and consequences, of that remarkable freedom.

You can’t blame God for the evil free-will choices of people. But you can ask, “Why does God permit the innocent (sometimes) to suffer?”

Well, here’s the uncomfortable truth: God can and does shield from harm those who seek His divine protection as they ask in faith – everyone else is on their own, and if they live outside God’s hedge of protection, it’s because they choose to be on their own.

Now listen, there are times and circumstances when people of faith will voluntarily confront human evil knowing that they may be harmed or even killed. Their reasons for doing that are between God and them.

There are also times when people of faith wander outside the castle and the King’s protection, so to speak, through disobedience, willful ignorance, or plain old rebellion. Bad things can happen when that occurs.

And finally, there are times when the bad things that bad people do to good people are simply inexplicable – only God knows the whys and wherefores.
1 Corinthians 13:12 – For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (KJV)

This is a good time to repeat what I’ve said before in these letters:

So, while suffering and pain is hard to understand and bear while going through it, no matter how awful or how long one has to endure it, it is infinitesimally brief compared to what God has in store for those that love Him.

2 Corinthians 4:17 – For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…

Once again, I hope our correspondence has provided some answers, or at least some food for thought, as we sit out our time together here on death row.

Until next time, friends,

Your faithful pen pal.

Death Row Letters: Mystery Of Divine Providence

Rick Tryon1 Comment

Howdy, once again.

In my previous letter I left you with this thought – ‘everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright it’s not the end’ – as a shorthand way of explaining the ‘The Eschatological (end-times) Hope’ argument for why God allows natural evil to happen in our world.

In this letter I want to talk a bit about the ‘Mystery of Divine Providence’ argument.

The ‘Mystery of Divine Providence’ is a fancy way of saying that we aren’t able to understand why God allows bad things to happen to people and that we just have to trust that, even though disease or earthquakes are deadly evils now, a greater good will eventually come of it.

It’s different from end times hope because instead of trusting in an ultimate justice and a ‘setting right’ of all that’s wrong, the mystery of divine providence asks us to look at evil as a necessary step on the road to God’s end-game.

I’m not buying it, though. To say that the ultimate good depends on evil happening doesn’t pass the commonsense test – or a closer study of the Bible.

Evil is never good, and God doesn’t use human suffering to accomplish His ends – with one exception: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ resulting in his crucifixion and death, which he offered of his own free will in order to ‘reset’ God’s purpose back on its originally planned course to everlasting life and glory with Him.

Yes, God’s ways are above our ways – Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

But that doesn’t mean that God has to use the death of a child or a catastrophic flood that kills hundreds of people in order to bring about some eventual good thing He has planned. It just means that how and why God works His will is often far beyond our understanding.

Anyway, that’s a lot to think about for one letter I guess.

So, maybe next time we’ll start in on why human evil exists, sound good? Well, not ‘good’, maybe ‘interesting’ would be a better choice of words here.

Until then,

Your fellow death row occupant.

Death Row Letters: End Times Hope

Rick Tryon1 Comment

Greetings, from your fellow death row occupant.

In my previous letter I talked about the ‘Soul-Making’ theological explanation for why God allows natural evil to happen to innocent folks. Meh, I’m not really convinced by that argument but I think we can learn from it.

In this letter I want to discuss the Eschatological (end-times) Hope explanation. I like this one. It makes a lot of sense and is fairly easy to understand. It goes something like this:
all suffering and evil will be redeemed by God in the future, so trust in the ultimate purpose and plan of God to make things right.

But what about the people who suffer and die in earthquakes and from diseases and such through no fault of their own?

Good question, in fact that is THE question.

The Eschatological (end-times) Hope argument is based on the total trust and confidence in a just and righteous Creator, who even in the midst of the evil and darkness of this present age intends to bring about the redemption of the entire creation and put an everlasting rightness to things.

As Paul said in his letter to the Romans, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18

Or another way to put it, as I once heard someone say, is this – everything will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright it’s not the end.

Okay, in the next letter let’s get into the ‘Mystery of Divine Providence’ explanation for why evils exists.

Until then,
Your death-row-sitting compatriot

Death Row Letters: Soul-Making

Rick Tryon1 Comment

Greetings,

Just a follow-up to our last letter concerning the two kinds of evil – natural evil and moral evil.

Let’s look at natural evil first. Why and when does God allow natural disasters and diseases etc. to occur? That’s the question I left off with last time.

As to the ‘why’, there are several theological attempts at answering that question, including the soul-making theory, the eschatological (end times) hope idea, and the mystery of divine providence explanation. I’d like to discuss each of these ideas in turn with you over the next few letters if that’s okay.

So, let’s start with the soul-making theory, which was advocated by a guy named John Hick who once said, “A world which is to be a person-making environment cannot be a pain-free paradise but must contain challenges and dangers, with real possibilities of many kinds of accidents and catastrophes, bringing pain, suffering, and sorrow.”

I take that to mean that God allows natural evil, like earthquakes, floods, and cancer in order to create virtuous people of high character who have been forged in a fire of calamity and danger.

Well, there are some Bible passages which seem to support this view.

1 Peter 1:6-7 – “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

How about this one? James 1:2-4 – “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

The soul-making theory makes sense in some ways, but the Bible verses I cited here, and some others like Hebrews 12:11 and 2 Corinthians 4:17, don’t come right out and say that God intentionally created, or allows, natural evil in order to produce virtue in folks.

Granted, one of the results when natural evil happens could be perseverance, stronger faith etc., in believers, but other results are definitely the death and injury of innocents, destruction, pain, and massive sorrow and grief.

So, to me soul-making isn’t a completely satisfying answer as to why natural evil exists, it’s more like a possible side positive benefit stemming from some very disturbing and terrible happenings. But let’s continue to consider it as a part of understanding the whole.

In our next letter we should talk about the eschatological (end times) hope idea to explain the occurrence of natural evil in God’s creation. Sound good?

Until then,
Your fellow death row occupant

Death Row Letters: Dear Atheists Part 2

Rick Tryon1 Comment

In my previous letter addressed to my atheist friends I promised we’d start looking at some of what the Bible says about the problem of suffering, which is a top argument against the existence of God.

Although, I’ll say here that folks arguing against the existence of God is akin to fish arguing against the existence of water.

Nevertheless, questions need to be answered so here’s some of the biblical answer to the problem of evil and suffering in the world today.

Romans 8:18 – For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Well, I reckon I agree with the Apostle Paul here.

If eternity is represented by the size and scope of the entire known universe, which contains billions of galaxies, each with billions of stars, and according to best estimates, is 93 light years across, then our short lives in this age by comparison would be the size of a grain of sand. Even smaller.

Actually there is no comparison that we can wrap our heads around to understand the eternal life God has promised us in relation to the short years of our mortal lives in this age.

And not only has our heavenly Father guaranteed us everlasting life, but everlasting life in resurrected, glorious, immortal bodies to live forever with Him, free of death, pain, and suffering.

So, while suffering and pain is hard to understand and bear while going through it, no matter how awful or how long one has to endure it, it is infinitesimally brief compared to what God has in store for those that love Him.

2 Corinthians 4:17 – For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…

So, going back to what I said in my last letter – God is entirely just, and He has committed Himself, for now, to abiding by the conditions which allow for suffering and pain in our physical world and in our current time – but it all is as nothing in the face of the coming eternal glory.

Oh, look at where the time has gone. I’ll have to wrap it up for now, but next time I’ll get into a little more about what the Bible says about the two kinds of evil – human evil, and natural evil.

Sincerely yours,
Your fellow death row inmate

Death Row Letters: Dear Atheists

Rick Tryon1 Comment

Dear Atheists and Agnostics,

My previous two letters were addressed to anti-natalists and nihilists, but I think there’s a lot of common ground between those folks and y’all atheists and agnostics.

One of the most common arguments used by all four of those worldviews is the problem of suffering. How could anyone believe in an all-powerful, loving God who would allow so much evil and suffering in the world?

Well, that’s a worthy question and there are massive amounts of books, articles, sermons, doctoral theses, movies, songs, and philosophical/theological debates on that subject (referred to as ‘theodicy’) dating back centuries.

So, in the next several letters I’ll be writing to you, I’ll be giving you my take on the matter in as a straightforward and common sense way as I possibly can.

Let’s start by considering this simple proposition: In order for there to be a level playing field where human beings are able to exercise actual free will, the conditions that create the possibility for failure, tragedy, and death must exist. Free agency is meaningless if there are no negative consequences as a result of bad choices.

Matthew 5:45 – “For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.“

God is entirely just, and He has committed Himself to abiding by the conditions which allow free agency to operate in our physical world and in our current time.

God doesn’t break His own rules, and He absolutely has a grand purpose in mind which he will bring to pass by His own power and in His own time.

I hope you take some time to objectively think about that proposition. Just chew on it for awhile, kick the tires, and let it marinate a bit instead of immediately dismissing the idea entirely.

In my next letter we’ll start looking at some of what the Bible says about the problem of suffering.

Sincerely yours,
Your fellow death row occupant